Dry cleaning apparatus



Sept. 1', 1936. v. PASSAR DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 26, 1929 I II ill lll NVENTQR VUwwz f 2 49315 5615 ATTGZDNEYEZE WITNESSES liquid is withdrawn a filter, and returned to the washer as required,.

Patented Sept. 1, 1936 s1 'TPATENI DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Vincent Pa'ssar, New York, N. Y assignor to Co f lumbia Appliance Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Ap lication September 26, 1929,-Serial No. 395,384 b i I Claims; (ores-'38) The present invention relates to an improve-Vv ment in dry cleaningapparatus in which provision is made to clean articles such asclothin and the like in a;washer by means oi. a suitable cleaning liquid, to filter and/or reclaim the dirty liquid and to use the liquid for repeated cleaning operations. In using such apparatus,

from the washer, cleaned by and/or the used liquid may be reclaimed by dis/- .tillation in.-a still and returned -.to the washer. One. %Obje Ct:Of. .my invention has been to accomplish these cycles' otoperation by the use of rel-v atively simple apparatus more particularly suited to small'cleaning restablishments. To this end,

the washer has =asingle outlet with controls for.

. directing the dirty-I liquid either to the still or to identified in the accompanying drawing by nu.

provide suitable the filter, and a single inlet through which to re turn theflltered ordistilled liquid or both.

A' further object. of the invention has been to machines. b

r One form-ofzapparatus, embodying my inven-- tion is illustrated inthe: accompanying drawing in which--- I. w 5i I v The. single flgureisaschematic view partly in 3 section and with portions broken away; I Referring to parts of my improved apparatus merals, l indicates a washing machine of any approved type, as'for instance,a machine similar toathe machine known on themarket as the "Savage washer and dryer which-is substantially as shown by Dunhamin Patent No. 1,842,154. This machine isprov-idedwith an outer casing 2 and .a container or basket 3 preferably of foraminous material and. designedto receive the clothesato be washed or dried. A suitable lid 4;

I :is slid over the top of the" casing 2, so that the washing-machine will bedsubstantially air-tight.

'Therbasket-i is, mounted on a suitable ,supi Qrt 5, -,.v.-a-nd*:to this support-is; connected the-armature-m shaft oia motor 5, or, .in'fact; any suitable ;driv

ing mechanism which may be turned on and off,

' 7 whereby the basket 3 will.be rotated. When the clothes are to be washed they'are placed in the basket 3 and a desired quantity of cleaning liquid 1' is placed in the casing}. said liquid naturally overflowing to a greater or less extent the clothes in basket3. Asinotor fi functions theclothes are rotated with thebasket and are subjected to the the dirty.

. connections and" control valves v to render operation of the device as simple as.

possible, having in mind that personsordinarily, employed in retail cleaning or tailors shops area not necessarily expert in the handlingtofcleaningrie cleaning action of the liquid 1 the clothes have beenv subjected to the cleaning liquid a desired length of time the liquid 'isdrawn off and the-basket 3 rotated a predetermined number of times for drying the clothes. Theapparatus and 5 manner of use thus far describedare-known in the. art but under some conditions of operation permit the escape of fumesin additionto presenting other. objectionable features which the: proper .use of a suitable embodiment of myzinvention "is 10 intended to overcome.v In' using the apparatus illustrated 'in the. appended 1 drawing; during both the washing and drying operation the fumes are drawn ofi .through pipe 8, which at the upper v end is in free communication with-the upper part of the. interior-of casing Land at thelower part a is in free communication with'anair pump 9 driven by any suitable'poweras,- for instance,

electric. motor Ill. The. pump 8 discharges through pipe "II, and pipe. H -is lead to a point outside of l the building .in' which thedevice is mounted, so that the fumes are disposed'of continually and when .lid 4 is removed none of the fumes. will pass into the'room. Preferably, aiter .each washing operation where the batch'method is employedthe liquid Tis-drawn'off bya pump .l2 driven" by any suitable means, as for-instance,

a; suitable electric motor 13; sThis pump forces the liquid 1 throughoutlet pipe M into the three- ,way valve I5, and thence through bran'ch pipe IE to the inlet side of a"suitab1e'filter, as to the chamber l'lforming part of the filter l8. theliquid has been drawn ofi, the clothes may be After dried as heretofore described. After'theclothes have been removed and a new batch inserted the filtered liquid is discharged back'i'nto the washing orderthat the liquid maybe made topass through the filtering-element of the filter more rapidly, I provide suitable means for applying aforce there to, such for example as the pressure pump 12 for exerting. pressure if desired on liquid at the inlet side of the filtering element or a suction pump-25 which is connected through pipe 26 to the upper part of the reservoir 24, whereby when the-xdevice is in operation pump, 25will create a pressure differential between the inlet side and the discharge side of said filtering element, or partiallyexhaust. the reservoir 24 and thereby cause the cleaning fluid to pass. more quickly through. the. filtering medium If and the screen. 22 The pump-25 may be: drivenby amotoror: from any other suitable sourceof' power.

During the operation of washing; thesolventor cleaning liquid becomes fouled, not only with dirt; but also. with other foreign; matter such as oil, grease or' the like which ordinaryflltering 'will not efiectively remove. When this condition. ap-

its non-filterabl'econtents by distillation. this purpose I provide a. still havinga-boil'er? 281' into which the used liquidis fed. from thewasherby a pump l2 through pipe I4 and branch pipe- 21 which is-controlled by valve. l5; vaporizing heat isv applied to the contents of. the boiler by. any suitable meanssuch as a burner 29. where. the solvent is noninflammable. As the "liquid" be.-..

comes heatedfit vaporizesand the vapor passes. out ofxthe boiler'through the outlet 30 and'int'o any suitable condensenthe drawing illustrating: diagrammatically a conventional. typein. which. a... cooled wall 3| is. arranged in. the pathzot. thevapor. The resulting condensate collects-on the; floor: 32' and; passes. therefrom into pipe 33; and

thence into the reservoir 24' when the valve- 34..

maintained. by providing aninlet pipe 31 and a.

discharge pipe 38.. Itwill-beapparent that anyother suitable form of, condensing device may beused inplace oi the one illustrated inconnection with a suitable boiler to reclaim the used clean-.

- ing fluid. by. distillation In the illustrated apparatus, the reclaimed liquid flows by gravity to. a reservoir 24. and thence into the-washer'through: .pipe |9when valve." is open. Itwiiithusbe.

seenthat accordingito one-mode of operation passes by gravity back into thewashingmachine.

If. desired, after-a batch of clothes .--has: beemcleaned the. fluid! maybe passed through the:

filter, but preferably his not passedlthrough the reclaiming apparatus until three or more. batches of'clothes have been cleaned. In either instance all of the fluid is retained, as there is noplacev where the same can escape, and consequently; the filtering and reclaiming do not reduce the quantity of fluidbut effectively remove dirt and ing-operation there'isacertain amount-.101" i'umes' other place.

In. operating the device any desired dry clean-. ing liquid may be used,v as for instance; trll By using this fluid or some-1" other suitable dry cleaning fluidthe-clothes may be dry cleaned in a. veryshortg-time-as thefl'uid. is maintained clean-either throughthe use of thechlorethylen'e.

filter or the reclaiming apparatus or both. It'- will be apparent that, under some.conditions,-. filtering. and. distilling may take place simul-- taneously with each other and/or with the washing by properly manipulating or regulating valves [5. 2.0v and 34'. Accordingly, although the apv V modeoigopration being,determinedlby-manipulapears, the solvent is reclaimed orseparatedfrom liquid 'to pass'ijrom thewasher tothe. filtering means, a clean'zliqu-id receptacleimmediately below and. openinginto said filter for receiving the filtered'liquid', a1 reclaimer, means fordirecting dirty liquid from the washer to the reclaimer,

means for directing the reclaimed liquid tosaid receptacley-and valve" control-led means for directing? said liquid from; the. receptacle. back to the washer;.

*2. Dry: cleaning apparatuscompr-ising; a wash-- "ing machine adapted to washclothes in; a. dry

cleaningliquid; a filter positioned at one side of but. above said-washing machine-,a. clean liquid receptacle positioned immediatelybelow said filter: andwith its. upper part in free. communication. witmhe outlet of said fllter',zandz the.;bot-

tom approximately :onxadineamidway. between the top and the bottom oi. said; .washi;ngz.m.achine, a

valve con-troll'ed pipe.;-.extending from said re:-

ceptacle neartheubottonmthereofi intozthe: washing machine neamth'e! conten thereon, whereby the liquid fromw the; receptaclelmay'flovr by. grav lty: into the washing machine; a stilli positioned with the i bottom -oi: 2,.condensation; chamber aboveasaid receptacle, a'.-val.ve ircontrolled pipe 1 leading fromthe; bottom. oLsaid; chamber: where- -..by 'liqui'd'-may' fiowzby gravity fromsaid' conadensati'on'chamber 'into said receptacle, aqpump havingitsrlnlet. connected. to .therbottom of said pump l2 lifts the-liquid tothefllteraandflto the;..

reclaiming apparatus but the returning fluid. ilzwashing m'a chir'ie apipevextendingirom the diswashingvmachine for: drawing liquid .from the.

charge-outlet oil said pump-to the;.inlet part of trolling'the flow'of'liquid' to both .otthe pipes leadingifromlth'eflischarge. gendu. of .said pump.-

3. Dry-cleaning-apparatus' including a washer,

al. filter; a: still, conduit. means: for: directing liquid from theawasher. to the fllter,.conduit means for-directing liquid;from.the washento the still,

11a. .cleanliquid receptacle having. operative. conall foreign matter therefrom. During the..washnectionwith the-.fllterx.and'wi.th..the still to receivel-iquiddirect therefrom; pumpoperatively' arranged with. thefilter for. producing rarefaction onthe discharge sideof the. filter to facilitat'e the passage-of liquid through-the filter, another pump operativelyconnected with said washer and: with said conduit means-tor pumpings: liquid to the-filterand tothestill, valve w means for option-ally. controlling;.-the passage of --li'q.,uid throughsaid conduit. means to the filter or to: the.-;still-, .=;ands a: pipe arranged: to discharge washer:

-- 4. Drycleaning? apparatus comprising/a washer, .a'.cleani liquid receptacle, a. valve: controlled discharge'pipe fromtliereceptacle to said washer,: a filter: having an outlet positioned to dis charge filtered cleaning liquid into; said. recep- ;tacle,.a still lhavingja condensen a. discharge pipe arranged to discharge.- distilled liquid. by gravity 7 from said condenser into the receptacle, a pump having itsinlet connected to said washer, a pipe from the outlet of said pump to said filter, a pipe from the outlet of said pump to said still,

and valve means for controlling the feed of liquid from said pump to said filter and said still.

5. Dry cleaning apparatus comprising a washer, a still, a clean liquid tank, a filter having an outlet to discharge filtered liquid into said tank, a plurality of pumps, one of which is connected to the washer to move dirty liquid therefrom to VINCENT PASSAR. 

